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Facts point to why sin tax must be renewed: Joe Roman and David Wondolowski

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Many argue the benefits of the Gateway development were worth the costs.Cleveland companies will have an easier time recruiting out of town employee prospects if our downtown is vibrant and offers diverse activities, including major league sports played in major league venues.
(file photo)

The effort to renew Cuyahoga County’s tax on alcohol and cigarettes – also known as the sin tax - has attracted significant interest, and that’s good.

We encourage all Cuyahoga County voters to examine this important issue.

Unfortunately, there is quite a bit of incorrect information that is blurring and confusing the discussion. What follows are some basic facts about the tax:

• This is not a tax increase. The existing tax adds about 1.5 cents to a bottle of beer, 1 cent for a glass of wine and less than a nickel to a pack of cigarettes. (If the tax is not renewed, does anybody really think the price of a beer at your favorite tavern will drop by a penny or two?) We don’t take taxes lightly, but this tiny tax is the best way to raise money to maintain Progressive Field, Quicken Loans Arena and FirstEnergy Stadium. It’s already been working for nearly 25 years.

• Our three sports venues are publicly owned. Money raised by the tax is not used to pay the salaries of athletes and the money does not go to the owners of the teams.

• If the tax is not renewed and it expires next year, major capital repairs at Progressive Field, Quicken Loans Arena and FirstEnergy Stadium will ultimately become the responsibility of the city of Cleveland and Cuyahoga County. That’s not a threat, it’s a fact. The tax now generates about $13 million a year. The city and the county would be adversely affected if they had to divert millions of dollars annually to sports venue repairs. We respectfully submit that anyone who says the tax should not be extended and that money for repairs should simply come from the city of Cleveland’s general fund – which pays for police and fire protection, among other things – is simply wrong. Better we keep paying a penny and a half a beer than to possibly endanger the jobs of public employees who provide vital service to all of us.

• The teams don’t own the three major league facilities in Cleveland, but they have nonetheless spent plenty on maintenance, repairs and capital improvements. The Indians, for example, have spent $63 million on Progressive Field since 1994 while the Cavaliers have spent $114 million on Quicken Loans Arena during that same period. The existing leases state that the teams are not responsible for repairs and other improvements that cost more than $500,000 at the Q and more than $525,000 at Progressive Field. Our major league facilities are no longer new. Major repairs are looming.

• Our sports teams are tremendous economic assets. Do you remember what the Central Market area looked like before we built Progressive Field and before we brought the Cavaliers back to Cuyahoga County? The ballpark and the arena were the initial catalysts of downtown Cleveland’s multibillion-dollar rebirth. New hotels, new housing, new restaurants, new entertainment venues and more have followed because of those two buildings. Thousands of jobs have been created because of Progressive Field and the Q. If the tax is extended, there will be a dedicated revenue stream for repairs that will lead to thousands of construction jobs in the future. The Cleveland Building and Construction Trades Council and the Greater Cleveland Partnership are dedicated to inclusion – we aggressively and constantly encourage the recruitment of minority construction workers and city of Cleveland residents.

Downtown Cleveland’s revitalization is palpable. Young people want to live and work there. Cleveland companies will have an easier time recruiting out-of-town employee prospects if our downtown – which in many ways was desolate before the Gateway sports complex was built - is vibrant and offers diverse activities, including major league sports played in major league venues.

Our city is reinventing itself. The momentum is intensifying. Ending the tax – and pressuring the city and the county to somehow provide tens of millions of dollars for repairs and updates to these buildings in the years to come – would take a lot of the air out of all of the good things that are happening.

For less than two cents a beer, it’s well worth the money.

Joe Roman is president and CEO of the Greater Cleveland Partnership, one of the nation’s largest chambers of commerce. David Wondolowski is executive secretary of the Cleveland Building & Construction Trades Council, which is an alliance of craft unions.

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